


An embarrassing sight

by LunaTantabus



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Betrayal, Emotional Hurt, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:41:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28081824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaTantabus/pseuds/LunaTantabus
Summary: Reader is passing through Saint Denis and sees Arthur with Mary.
Relationships: Arthur Morgan/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

You were riding your stallion leisurely down the cobbled pathways, embracing the sharp clop of his hooves as the rhythmical sound lulled you into the unique ambience of Saint Denis. You were trotting through to go to the stables to give your horse Callus a care package and more hay, as well as treat yourself to a new gun at the gun store. 

You contemplated if there was enough daylight for a run to the trappers for a new trinket, and ultimately you decided “oh of course, how could I say no to that.” 

Callus begins nickering and inspiring small rears of annoyance. You pat him to tranquility in vain, and sigh through your nose in discouraged confusion. You lift your chest back up and raise your head up to direct yourself with a breath to the next stop when your eyes drift to a familiar shape. 

You see Arthur, in an alleyway hovering over a figure. The meander of your horse allows you to see the figure of Mary stooped below his chin, wedged messily between his arms. 

As you pass them you pull your horse to a stop with strain, as even Callus can sense, well honestly SEE the flagrant embellishment of betrayal, smothering itself to sin in a filthy alleyway in Saint Denis. 

The sight took a flitting moment for the pieces to click, and something in your mind snapped apart. Violently, you felt a red....spark? Is that right? It wasn’t kind, whatever it was, but she was here. And she came fast. 

You didn’t frown, you smiled in fact. A laugh threw itself out of your mouth.  
you began with such a painfully exhausted and windy breath, one couldn’t tell if it was of joy or pain. 

Your laughter deepened in hue and pain, the airy giggles of disbelief sputtered into more desperate rasps of cackles. 

You didn’t need to subject yourself to this. Your heart didn’t need to hurt longer, your mind didn’t need to deal with this new, preposterous mental obstacle course. Your eyes didn’t need this display to be presented any longer. 

You spurred Callus to movement and left. Even if the table scraps of pleas echoing from behind you were registered through the piercing ring in your ears, you wouldn’t have stopped. And you didn’t when you couldn’t hear them.


	2. A night to recover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You see that horrendous display, now you need to recover. And how you spend your evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the dialogue is in your head, so there isn’t much spoken but the thoughts that are in quotation marks are how my brain thinks, so that’s how the writing goes.

How miserable. After all you did. It wasn’t enough. Never enough for the heart of an outlaw, perhaps. Maybe that’s just the anger talking, or the listless sigh of your mind preparing to cut all emotion off, for safety of course. Never enough. Maybe it’s me? Is something wrong with me? You think back to every drop of time and love you donated to that man. Every day you spent ensuring everything made him happy, teaching him everything you knew, inspiring him, encouraging him, giving everything to make him happy, all for his love in return. No, this wasn’t you. Obviously it wasn’t you,  
“don’t hurt yourself like that again.”  
“At least I can depend on myself to not hurt me.”  
“We can only depend on ourself, apparently,”  
You think as you sigh at your campfire on a hill near emerald ranch. Callus laying next to you, his chest rippling with his low nickers of support. 

You sat on the lush grass, one knee propped up your lazing forearm, your hand rubbing itself on nothing. Occasionally cracking a knuckle. You concentrate on letting all that, that emotion out of you. Let it slip off of you. Melt away like wax. You knew it would take a good while for your pain to wear off. Your mind drifted to Mary.  
“What he sees in her, I don’t know.”  
“Why did she call him if she knew he was taken”  
“That makes my opinion of her so much worse”  
“Should we head back to camp?”  
Maybe. Tomorrow, perhaps. Right now you need silence. And a meal. Something savory. You need the predatory taste to ease the tension of losing control like that. Or, watching someone betray you like that, feels almost worse than losing control.  
You stood up slowly, wobbling a bit since you’ve been sitting here for some while. Callus hoofs himself up and his well groomed head supports you with a mutter. 

“Thank you” you giggle and pat his cheek with a gentleness that matched his support.  
You hop on, and give him a handful of raspberries to munch, his grateful mumble soothed you back to your task at hand. 

You knew bison roamed here. You could just wait till dark and slaughter a cow or something, but that would be awful rude and you didn’t want a trace of you, in town at least. You continued your search for bison. 

It doesn’t take long as you hear their gentle brays as you near the herd. Pulling a little ways away to give distance, or at least accuracy. You unsheathe yourself carcano from your harness and use the scope to single out the one with the best pelt, better to sleep on, you think. You line up with the nearest ones head, as clean as possible. And,  
Done.  
The bang sends the herd into panic and they all trample away from the scene, allowing you to make your way to your prize.  
You inspect the body. So well cut, you think. A moment later you stab into the beasts belly, and slit your way through the pelt, and carefully extract the meat and pelt from the rest.  
“Arthur taught us this”  
You sigh, your head drifting back to him. Thinking about every moment he smiled, his raucous laughter near the campfire with your stories. His incredible talent of drawing you encouraged the living daylights out of. His hands sketching the most beautiful renditions of everything he saw. His unfairly strong arms that held you with such an uninhibited affection. And those arms that were propped up against a Saint Denis building with Mary wedged between them. What a way to spoil a memory. Spoil your thoughts, now tainted with his disloyalty.  
“Don’t be hysterical, this will pass, I promise you. One way or another.” You soothe to yourself.  
The pelt was wrapped and stowed on Callus and the meat now stowed, during your thoughts. 

At your makeshift camp you eat your dinner, thoroughly enjoying your meat. As much as you could. This was a good thing, a good little moment in a time of absolute misery. Callus was well fed with hay, and joined you with your meal. It was dark now, and the crickets were well versed into their evening song. You down some raspberries for desert, and offer callus some too, which he gratefully accepts. You unroll the beautiful pelt, along with your bedroll, and stare at the stars. The campfire with its gentle sparks and crackles, how beautiful everything is even when you feel so awful, it lifts you up to feel, less awful. More flawless. Everything will realign for you soon enough, as you drift off to sleep under the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. Arthur will show up in the next chapter, promise. Give feedback please!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked my first chapter for this. Suggestions welcome.


End file.
